I'll get title back, beaten Mundine vows

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Manny and The Man: Puerto Rican boxer Manny Siaca steps back after knocking down former WBA champion Anthony Mundine in Sydney on Wednesday.Photo:AFP

Anthony Mundine's camp will lodge a protest with the World Boxing Association in a bid to gain an immediate rematch with Manny Siaca.

The deposed champion yesterday declared he was still "The Man" and guaranteed his fans a world title despite dropping what he described as a "razor-sharp" split-points decision to Siaca on Wednesday night in Sydney.

"I'll guarantee this: by the end of the year I will be a two-time world champion," said Mundine, who thought he had done enough to win.

He asked a reporter who questioned him about returning to rugby league if he was serious.

"Footy is out of the question, mate. It would have been different if I'd got knocked down in the first round . . . but I thought I didn't lose," Mundine said.

He admitted he should have adjusted his game plan and fought more aggressively at times and said his corner "probably" miscalculated the state of the fight going into the last round, when he failed to press the issue.

Had Mundine won the last round, he would have retained the title on a majority draw, but the judges gave the 12th to Siaca.

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The Puerto Rican offered Mundine a rematch, which Mundine said he definitely wanted, but the WBA's leading Australian official, Derek Milham, warned that the former champion may not get the first challenge.

"I think the chances are a bit slim because he (Siaca) has an obligation to defend against (Denmark's) Mads Larsen within 90 days," Milham said.

Mundine's camp plans to protest because the supervisor of the fight was forced to fill in as a judge in place of Raul Caiz, who was elevated to referee after the original appointee was unable to reach Australia in time.

Mundine's manager, Khoder Nasser, said one of the grounds for protest was he understood the supervisor had never judged a world title bout.

Mundine dismissed the prospect of pursuing domestic arch-rival Danny Green, who holds the rival World Boxing Council interim super-middleweight title.

"He ain't got nothing I want. What's he got, an interim belt, what the hell is that," Mundine said.

Green said Mundine was an embarrassment to Australia.

"That performance shows that Mundine has no part in a boxing ring. He gave it away," Green said yesterday. "He was too afraid to get hit, so was on the back foot all fight. Mundine knows that he can't survive in boxing."